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才
cái
1. ability
2. talent
3. sb of a certain type
4. a capable individual
5. only
6. only then
7. just now
HSK 3 Very Common • Top 0% ✏️ 3 strokes

Character Breakdown (Single character)

才
cái
ability, talent, gift; just, only
HSK 3 3 丶

Compound Words (20)

不才
bùcái
untalented
人才
réncái
talent
HSK 5
偏才
piāncái
talent in a particular area
全才
quáncái
all-rounder
刚才
gāngcái
just now
HSK 3
刚才
gāngcái
(just) a moment ago
HSK 3
却才
quècái
just now
口才
kǒucái
eloquence
多才
duōcái
multi-talented
天才
tiāncái
talent
HSK 6
奇才
qícái
genius
奴才
núcai
slave
将才
jiàngcái
talented field commander (military)
屈才
qūcái
to waste talent
干才
gàncái
ability
庸才
yōngcái
mediocrity
德才
décái
ethics and ability
成才
chéngcái
to make sth of oneself
才不
cáibù
by no means
才分
cáifèn
ability

Example Sentences (3)

十年过去了，现在他已经是校长了，因为太忙，每天早上我起床后都看不到他，晚上很晚他才回到家。
Shí nián guòqù le, xiànzài tā yǐjīng shì xiàozhǎng le, yīnwèi tài máng, měitiān zǎoshang wǒ qǐchuáng hòu dōu kàn bú dào tā, wǎnshang hěn wǎn tā cái huídào jiā.
Ten years have passed. Now he is already the principal. Because he's so busy, every morning after I get up I can't see him, and he doesn't get home until very late at night.
Text 4
你怎么这么早就要睡觉了？以前都要12点以后才睡觉。
Nǐ zěnme zhème zǎo jiù yào shuìjiào le? yǐqián dōu yào shí'èr diǎn yǐhòu cái shuìjiào.
Why are you going to sleep so early? You used to not go to bed until after 12 o'clock.
Text 1
啊？一个星期以后才回来？
A? Yí ge xīngqī yǐhòu cái huílái?
Huh? Not coming back until a week from now?
Text 2

Alternate Entries

才
cái
a moment ago / just now / (preceded by a clause of condition or reason) not until / (followed by a numerical clause) only
HSK 3

Metadata

Category
Chinese
HSK Character Level
3
Character Frequency Rank
234
Word Frequency Rank
177 of 84,292